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Doris's pad chirps again, and I look over at her. She peers into the eye of another one of the cattle, shining a tiny hand-sized light into the pupil. The pad chirps a third time. "You going to answer that?" I ask.
"Don't rush me," Doris snaps.
I don't mind her surly attitude. I actually find it refreshing. I'd rather people grump and snarl at me than quiver in fear. Doris weighs less than Mina, her hair a steely gray and her face lined with wrinkles, but she is absolutely fearless and doesn't like to be told what to do. I wait for her to finish examining the cow, trying to ignore the chirping of her data-pad.
She finally harrumphs, flicking her light off and shoving it into her pocket. "Fools keep letting their cattle wander into the crop fields. How many times have I told Betty and that fool alien of hers that if her meat-stock get into the herbs, they're going to get all loopy?" She shakes her head. "No wonder they're having trouble giving birth. Damn things are high as kites." Doris rolls her eyes. "I'm going to have to talk to them again. And again. Like talking to fucking brick walls sometimes."
The pad chirps again.
"Everyone thinks they're a fucking farmer," Doris mutters, finally picking up her data-pad. "What?" she bellows into it.
"This is Milly va'Rin," a sweet voice comes over the comm. "Is Jonathan with you?"
It takes me a moment to realize she refers to me. I'm Jonathan.
At my side, Doris scowls in my direction. "Don't you have a data-pad of your own, you big idiot?"
"Not yet." It's on my list of things to do.
"Well please, let me be your answering service," Doris says sarcastically. She holds the pad out to me.
I just grin, because she's all bark and no bite. Doris marches off toward Betty's homestead, no doubt to yell at her for letting her cattle wander in the fields and eat her crops. I gingerly hold the small data-pad, trying to figure out which button I have to push to get it to work. "Um. Milly?" I call out, hoping she can pick up my voice. "Is this working?"
"It is." Milly's voice is calm. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask you to come by the estate when you're done with your work. We've heard back from Lady dra’Niiron. She's crafted a letter for us to take to Lord hs'Serr to try to win Mina away from him. Whenever you're ready, of course."
My mouth goes dry.
Mina. It's finally time to save Mina.
Doris gripes about fuel, but drives her air-sled back to Port at top speed. She knows how urgent this is to me. Knows that Mina is everything to me. "Go save your woman," she grumbles as she veers into the small settlement. "And if you two need a place to stay when you get here, you can come live with me for a while. I've got the space."
It's an unexpected kindness. "Thank you."
She gives me a cross look. "Whatever. Just go save the day or something. Be a hero. Get out of here."
A hero. Me. The idea is laughable. She doesn't know I'm the bad guy in all this.
35
CRULDEN
I fidget in my seat as Lord va'Rin's delicate ship lands inside Lord hs'Serr's familiar compound. The thick, green jungle spread out beyond the wall reminds me of before, and my thoughts fill with Mina.
Not for the first time, I worry over my shaved mane and my missing tusks. Will she remember me? Will she like the changes? Or will she find that I'm too different now? It's been over two months since I've seen her, and every day has been both joy and agony. Traveling back here has taken two long days, and I feel useless and twitchy.
Lord va'Rin and Milly have a plan, one that I'm not involved in at all. I want to do something—anything—to help save Mina, but if this works, I'll grab her into my arms and hold her close and thank all the stars in the sky that she's free.
"Remember," Milly says in that soft, bright voice of hers. "Follow Lord va'Rin's lead. We already know Lord hs'Serr is going to be difficult. He's going to feel outmaneuvered and slighted. We'll have to resort to flattery and to make it seem like we're doing everyone a favor. Understand?"
I nod, my nostrils flaring. The ship's barely landed and I'm already sniffing the air, trying to draw in Mina's scent. Have they sent her back to the kitchens to work? Or is she still being forced to follow after Lord hs'Serr? Worse…are they forcing her to serve another gladiator?
Has she fallen in love with him?
The thought eats at me. I know Mina has to do whatever she must to survive. As long as she loves me, nothing else matters.
